Jeff DeGraff Profile

Jeff DeGraff has over twenty-five years’ experience as a leader at the highest levels of corporate America. His views on innovation have been sought by the most highly regarded think tanks while his client roster includes Eaton, GM, SPX, 3M, Apple, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, GE, Johnson & Johnson, LG, Pfizer, and Toyota.

Jeff is the Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Investors and Fortune 500 companies frequently turn to him for his insights into developing cultures, capabilities, and connections that will lead the way in innovation. His expertise has been showcased in Business Week, CIO, Fortune, USA Today,Training+Development, and the Wall Street Journal, amongst other publications.

Jeff is currently Executive Director of the ideas lab Innovatrium Institute for Innovation and a Managing Partner of the Competing Values Company, a high-level innovation-consulting firm. He is the co-creator of the Competing Values methodology, which integrates innovation into profitable business models. His first book, Innovation You: How We Grow, was published in 2011.

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Jeff DeGraff is a world renowned thought leader, executive and innovation expert. His expertise has been shared globally at top innovation incubators and think tanks such as the Aspen Institute and with companies that include Eaton, GM, SPX, 3M, Apple, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, GE, Johnson & Johnson, LG, Pfizer, and Toyota. DeGraff has contributed his expert knowledge in publications such as Business Week, CIO, Fortune, USA Today, Training+Development and the Wall Street Journal. Jeff is focused on how to lead Innovation; developing the culture, capabilities, and collaborative connections that result in revenue and market growth. Jeff is the complete package.

With over twenty-five years of corporate leadership experience and as Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan′s Ross School of Business, Jeff is the ′guru to the innovation gurus′ at Fortune 500 companies. His advice is frequently in demand from the investment community on how to pick, manage and harvest winning ideas and business enterprises.

DeGraff offers his personal experience as a former business executive from one of the fastest growing companies in America, the credibility of being a published author and an expert resource for the media. Jeff is the Executive Director of the Innovatrium Institute for Innovation, an idea lab; Managing Partner of the Competing Values Company, a top innovation consulting firm where he is also the co-creator of the Competing Values methodology that integrates innovation with finance, strategy, management, and leadership into a robust business model that boosts the bottom-line. His book, Innovation You: How We Grow, was released in July 2011.

Jeff DeGraff Speaking Videos

Jeff DeGraff: Keynote Speech

“He made the erroneous assumption that he operated on his own." Jeff DeGraff demonstrates how anyone who forgets or neglects the networks within which they move cannot operate successfully.

Jeff DeGraff: Unleashing a Culture of Innovation

Jeff DeGraff: Innovation Roundtable Presentation

Jeff DeGraff Keynote Speech: Creativity

Jumpstarting Innovation | Jeff DeGraff

Jeff DeGraff: What Innovation Is

Jeff DeGraff: Keynote Speech

Jeff DeGraff: Unleashing a Culture of Innovation

Jeff DeGraff: Innovation Roundtable Presentation

Jeff DeGraff Keynote Speech: Creativity

Jumpstarting Innovation | Jeff DeGraff

Jeff DeGraff: What Innovation Is

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Jeff DeGraff's Speech Descriptions

Jeff’s exciting and engaging speeches have been delivered to audiences from General Electric, Visa, Tetra Pak, and American Airlines, among others. His expertise as a thought leader and innovation expert is employed in explaining how growth can be achieved through innovation and how the capability for innovation can be developed.

A very engaging and exciting speaker, Jeff has headlined many international conferences in various industries for clients such as General Electric, Visa, Tetra Pak, and American Airlines, among others. He brings his experience as a world renowned thought leader, executive and innovation expert to his speeches, focusing on how to achieve growth through developing organizational capabilities to innovate. His expertise is in connecting the dots of innovation: how pieces of the puzzles fit together to create a sustainable growth in organizations.

Jeff′s speaking engagements usually revolve around the following topics:

Leading Innovation: How to Jump Start Your Organization′s Growth Engine

Creativity at Work: Developing the Right Practice to Make innovation Happen

Books by Jeff DeGraff:

Innovation You: Four Steps to Becoming New and Improved

In today’s frenetic, uncertain world, the “same old, same old” routines are perfect ways to go nowhere fast. What has worked for you before—professionally or personally—no longer gets results. Whether you’ve been downsized, reached the end of a long relationship, or found yourself questioning where you are in life, it’s clear you need to change. To innovate. Make it new. Make yourself new. Now, in this invaluable book, the world-renowned “Dean of Innovation,” Jeff DeGraff, shares his tried-and-true techniques on how to reinvent yourself—creatively and with maximum impact.

Innovation You reveals DeGraff’s unique four-step program to bolster your ingenuity and remake your life. From forging ahead in a new career to losing weight to finally pursuing that long-held dream, DeGraff’s strategies are effective and easy to follow. Inside you will learn to:

Rethink Innovation: Find ways to think outside the box, seek out diverse opinions, and pay attention to the next great trend.

Rethink Your Approach: Use the Competing Values Framework to identify your natural innovation profile—do you compete, collaborate, create, or control?—and then deliberately draw from the other styles to augment your usual tactics.

Rethink the Journey: Understand that innovation is a process and that progress comes in cycles rather than a quick straight line. Accept uncertainty, question assumptions, and acknowledge areas where you can improve.

Full of invigorating ideas, engaging anecdotes, practical wisdom, and inspiring success stories, Innovation You is your personal road map to reach your highest potential—and experience a bold new way of living.

Leading Innovation presents a unique, holistic approach to creating innovation at all levels of your organization. Authors Jeff DeGraff and Shawn Quinn have created a real-world, how-to playbook of integrated creativity tools and techniques for understanding where innovation comes from and harnessing its power to create a culture where real growth happens on a constant basis.

Based on DeGraff′s proven methods-which he teaches in his innovation program at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and has applied at Fortune 500 companies around the world-this breakthrough guide focuses on systematically integrating business practices and connecting them to the value propositions they produce. You′ll discover how to diagnose obstacles to innovation, realistically assess your options, and develop an integrated program of action that can be adjusted to meet the needs of any group, department, or business unit throughout your organization.

Creativity at Work: Developing the Right Practices to Make Innovation Happen / Edition 1

Although many leaders acknowledge and invest in creativity, we seldom see it hold a credible place in the business development process. Creativity at Work takes a practical approach to creativity, showing how to select practices to produce results and add value. The authors explain how to:

Understand the creative preferences of organizations, departments, work groups, and individuals

Identify and compare the different creativity profiles that describe specific purposes, practices, and people

Produce the desired results by developing the right practices

Blend creativity practices to meet the complex needs that characterize most work situations o Develop required creative abilities in a team and in oneself